A Spider on the Stairs Read Online Free PDF Page B

the Ashdon killings, this was simply a body, left where it had fallen once the life had been choked out of it.
    She had been a tall woman, lanky and lean, with sun-streaked carroty hair. Her face was discolored and bloated, but there were freckles sprinkled across her knuckles, and Gibbons was willing to bet that she had sported a good many on her face as well. From the hands and the lines of her body, he thought she had been young, probably in her twenties.
    But even to Gibbons’s inexperienced eye, there was no possibility that this crime could be put down to Ashdon’s account.
    Beside him, he felt Brumby trying to restrain his temper, which he managed rather well once he finally spoke.
    â€œDid Superintendent MacDonald say why he thought this might be one of Ashdon’s victims?” he asked.
    Redfern looked a little discomfited.
    â€œHe didn’t say, sir,” he answered. “I expect it was mostly becauseof its being a shop and all.” He looked at the body. “It doesn’t look much like the other one,” he admitted.
    â€œNo,” said Brumby evenly, “it doesn’t.”
    They stood in silence for several long seconds.
    â€œRight then,” said Brumby at last, drawing a deep breath, as if for fortitude. “Constable, would you mind going back and safeguarding our witness? The Sergeant and I will just have a look around and be down directly.”
    â€œYes, sir,” said Redfern, sounding relieved.
    There was silence again once the constable had left. Gibbons broke it by saying, “Am I wrong, sir, or is this definitely ruled out as a possibility for Ashdon?”
    â€œOh, you’re not wrong, Sergeant,” Brumby assured him, shaking his head as he stood over the body. “My preliminary impression is that this is probably a fairly simple case. It doesn’t look to me like this murder was premeditated. What do you think?”
    â€œIt doesn’t seem that way,” agreed Gibbons. “It looks almost as if once the killer realized she was dead, he simply panicked and ran out.”
    â€œExactly.” Brumby sighed and turned away. “And MacDonald strikes me as far too intelligent an officer to have made such a mistake. I think he’s a man with too much on his plate at the moment, and he jumped at the chance to hand this one off.”
    Gibbons agreed.
    â€œBut I’ve found that it pays to foster goodwill with the locals,” continued Brumby. “I mostly end up working on their patches, and they’re far more accommodating if one has a good reputation. What would you say to helping out on this one? I can have the med team come over and do the autopsy, and the scene-of-the-crime officers will be done with their first sweep of our site by this afternoon—they might as well make themselves useful and go over this place as well.”
    Gibbons asked nothing better than to be given this opportunity to investigate on his own.
    â€œI’d like that very much, sir,” he said. “To be honest, I think I might be of more use here than over with your team.”
    Brumby nodded. “You get started here then,” he said. “I’ll speak to MacDonald and—hell! I forgot poor Howard.” He pulled out his mobile and began dialing. “He’s probably on tenterhooks waiting to hear if we have an anomaly or not. Carry on, Sergeant—check in with me once you’re done here.”
    Brumby made his way to the door, while Gibbons turned back to the body and pulled out his notebook. He made a preliminary sketch of the scene, taking notes of anything that seemed out of the ordinary. He was a naturally observant man and had always been good at this part of his job, able to pick incongruities out of even apparently chaotic backgrounds.
    Here nothing struck him as out of place except for the immediate area around the body, where there had clearly been a struggle. A small hooked rug was rumpled up